


Telling Jed

by lasairfhiona



Series: Blessing in Disguise [7]
Category: West Wing
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-20
Updated: 2012-01-20
Packaged: 2017-10-29 20:56:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/324085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lasairfhiona/pseuds/lasairfhiona
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leo finally tells Jed</p><p>Post "Poet Laureate"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Telling Jed

Jed Bartlet stood on the portico outside the Oval Office. The energy speech had gone well as had the question and answer session afterward. The best part of the past four days, however, was that only CJ figured out the Monday morning blunder with the open mike wasn't actually a blunder but a calculated move on his part.

"It's a nice night," Leo said quietly as he joined the President, looking out over the lawn.

"Yeah, it is," Jed replied. "CJ figured it out," he stated without preamble, not even looking over at the man standing next to him.

"Did she call you on it?" Leo asked knowing exactly what his old friend was talking about.

"Yeah. In a way," the President replied with a shrug.

"So?"

Taking a drag of his cigarette, Jed replied, "So nothing." Turning and finally looking at Leo, he added, "But I'm going to call you on something."

Leo looked over at the President and wondered what he'd done this time. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Jed paused, taking another drag of his cigarette then looked Leo in the eye. "Mind telling me about this secret girlfriend and why I have to find out via the rumour mill?"

Backing up, Leo sat down on the nearby bench. This was *not* how he wanted to have this conversation. "I was going to tell you. It just never seemed like the right time. Plus she and I just wanted to spend some time together."

Leaning back against the columns, the President watched his old friend. "Mallory know?" Jed asked wondering how Leo's daughter took the news of her father dating.

"Yeah," Leo answered with a smile. "They get along great. Almost too good at times."

Jed smiled at the chagrined look on Leo's face then asked, "Jenny?"

Leo nodded. "Mal told her then she and I talked."

"That must have been awkward," Jed commented.

"Yeah," Leo agreed. "It was the first time since the divorce."

"Abbey?" Jed asked. Something told him his wife already knew. She'd been making noises about him and Leo spending some 'guy time', as she called it, together.

"Yeah," Leo again answered. "She's the one who gave me the push I needed to take the first step in the relationship." He really hoped his admitting Abbey knew of his relationship before Jed didn't cause any more problems in their marriage. Things had been rocky for the First Couple with all the re-election talk but no one knew how much so better than him.

"She's good at pushing," Jed commented looking away from Leo and back toward the lit Washington Monument. "Tell me about her."

"She's younger," Leo admitted, getting that point out of the way first.

"How much younger?" the President asked suddenly concerned Leo was going through some kind of midlife crisis.

"Twenty-five years," Leo answered quietly, almost afraid of Jed's reaction.

"Damit Leo! She's young enough to be your daughter."

Leo simply said, "Yeah."

"I know you said they got along, but how did Mallory take *that* news?"

Leo laughed. "She blew her stack then we really talked and she understood how I feel about this relationship. Like I said they are great friends now."

"You love her?" Jed asked, not quite believing Leo could actually fall in love again after Jenny let alone with someone so much younger.

"Yeah," Leo answered with a smile.

"How long have you known her?"

"A couple of years."

"Tell me you haven't been keeping this a secret that long?" Jed asked not bothering to keep the hurt that Leo had kept something like this secret from him for that long. Never mind the fact it would have had to have started right after Jenny left him. Neither were Leo's style.

"No. Just a few months," Leo explained. "I spent the three or four months prior denying I had feelings for her. Questioning why she was attracted to me. Then Abbey gave me a good talking to and told me to just go with it," Leo paused a moment then continued, "Your wife's a wise woman, my friend."

"So just who is this woman? It hasn't escaped me that you've neglected to mention her name."

Looking up at the President then out over the lawn, Leo said the name he was sure would make Jed explode. "Ainsley Hayes."

"Ainsley Hayes," Jed repeated then asked, "The Republican, Ainsley Hayes?" He had to be sure he heard the right name since it was the last person he expected to hear Leo had fallen in love with.

"Yeah."

"Are you out of your mind?" Jed asked wondering exactly what had come over his friend to pick someone so opposite of him.

"Quite possibly," Leo replied to the expected reaction from his old friend. "But I love her as much as I loved Jenny and maybe even more."

"Okay, then," Jed declared. His friend's happiness, and it was obvious Leo was happy, was more important than whether or not he approved of the woman who made him happy. Ainsley would definitely challenge him and Leo needed challenging.

"Okay," Leo echoed. He'd survived telling his best friend.

"How did you two end up getting together?" Now that the hard part was over, the President was curious as to what put his friend and the Republican lawyer on the same path.

Leo sighed. With hands folded together, elbows on his knees, he told Jed about his meeting with Adamley and the real mission behind Operation Rolling Thunder.

"That explains why you had me meet with Adamley," Jed commented thoughtfully.

"Yeah. I haven't wanted a drink as much as I did that night for a long time," Leo admitted hanging his head. There was a lot he could tell Jed but he didn't want to burden his friend with that too.

"Why didn't you come to me?" Jed immediately asked.

"You had enough to deal with with the shooting and sending Hoynes to Texas," Leo explained, shrugging. "Ainsley found me by accident in a liquor store. She took me home, listened to me and didn’t judge me. It's been a long time since someone's done that for me."

"How did Abbey get involved?"

"She saw Ainsley and I having a moment and put two and two together."

"Ahhh..."

"CJ's gonna kill you," Jed commented with a teasing smile.

"We'll cross that one later," Leo answered. Telling the rest of the staff wouldn't be a picnic and he really didn't look forward to that day.

"Let's go find Abbey," Jed suggested, holding out his hand to pull Leo to his feet. Keeping his hand on Leo's shoulder they walked to the doors leading them to the Residence. "You love her?" Jed asked one more time, wanting to be positive.

"Yeah," Leo answered with a smile. "I do."

"Lovesick teenager," Jed muttered just loud enough for Leo to hear.

Laughing, Leo retorted, "Yeah, well you set a good example."


End file.
